"In this groundbreaking study, the authors explore the extent of interracial friendships and romantic relationships for young people from their early teens through their late twenties. Across the racial and ethnic groups of whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians, the authors find complex patterns of racial boundary maintenance and crossing. The complexity of race in twenty-first century America is evident in this clearly written and rigorously researched book. The main finding that race still keeps so many young people apart is tempered with the hopeful finding that kids who attend diverse schools are much more likely to have close friendships and romantic relationships that cross these barriers. The Company We Keep has so much to teach both experts and students about race in America.”
—MARY C. WATERS, JOHN LOEB PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
"This landmark study revises theories of changing ethno-racial boundaries over the life course by examining romantic pairings at two pivotal life course periods and demonstrating unequivocally that intergroup contact and romantic relationships during adolescence carry over to adult relationships. Grace Kao, Kara Joyner, and Kelly Stamper Balistreri clarify the national project of integration by documenting which groups redraw which color lines and under what circumstances. The authors deftly synthesize a vast empirical literature, supplement research gaps with original analyses, and render a complex story about shifting intergroup relations eminently accessible to a broad audience. The Company We Keep will be the touchstone for understanding social integration, race relations, and partnering behavior against the backdrop of increasing population diversification.”
—MARTA TIENDA, MAURICE P. DURING ’22 PROFESSOR OF DEMOGRAPHIC STUDIES AND PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
"A pathbreaking longitudinal study of interracial friendships and romantic relationships, The Company We Keep confirms the centrality and continuing significance of race in shaping intergroup relations among youth. By centering intersectionality at the core of the empirical analyses, the authors reveal the intricate interactions of race, gender, and class in forming interracial friendship and romantic ties from adolescence to young adulthood. Moreover, the authors document the relative fluidity and permeability of the American color line as young adults simultaneously transgress and transform the multiplicity of racial boundaries. In tracing the positive impacts of contact with other races in adolescence on the likelihood of interracial ties and romantic partners in adulthood, the book also points to one specific pathway toward the future of a more racially integrated American society. The Company We Keep is a must-read for scholars of race and ethnicity, immigration, and intergroup contact and relations.”
—VAN C. TRAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR URBAN RESEARCH AT THE GRADUATE CENTER, CUNY